


A Decent Guy

by Nocticola



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cupioromantic, Episode: s04e01 Fallout, Episode: s04e02 Survivors, Episode: s04e03 Bad Blood, Episode: s04e04 Lost and Found, Episode: s04e05 The New Girl, F/M, Season/Series 04, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-10-04 05:28:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17298653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nocticola/pseuds/Nocticola
Summary: Lexie DeWitt gets out of the imploding Barn into Haven in 2011.Nathan still has a plan to make her fall in love with him to end the Troubles.





	1. Lexie into Haven

**Author's Note:**

> This is another one of my 'tried to make it a oneshot, couldn't' fics, so I'm going to be updating this occasionally-. TBH I'm not quite sure how this will develop, I just really wanted to explore a real!Lexie in Haven AU. Most likely going to have alternating POV, but mostly from Lexie's pov.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexie in the Bar(n), meeting Nathan.

This has been the weirdest day of Lexie Dewitt’s life. What she thought would be a day of pouring beer, avoiding handsy clients and joking around with Rhonda like every day for the past month, turned into first having a gun pulled on her and being saved by a flirty blue eyed guy who’s good with a pool stick. Then it got weirder. The guy, William, started saying that Lexie isn’t really Lexie, that the crappy boyfriend who she ditched and didn't love is not real, that her *life* isn’t real, that she’s someone else. Someone who was in Haven, Maine when she’s never been anywhere near there. But weirdly, the most out there idea is that there’s a guy, who she hasn’t met, who she’s somehow secretly pining after. That’s some weird romance novel bullshit. She's never pined after anyone even one day of her entire life. She's just never been the type, despite still sometimes searching for a decent guy to share her life, but she hasn't had much luck. 

But then, she assembles a gun in under 10 seconds, and suddenly William’s words don’t seem so out there. Something has to be going on here. She doesn’t really trust William. He seemed cute enough for a quick tumble after work, but she keeps getting conflicting vibes from him. He’s telling her that her life, her existence, is a lie, and she doesn’t want to trust that. But there is something there, in the way he flirted and talked about ‘the ache in her heart’. She doesn't understand what that means, why it resonates with her. She doesn’t want to trust him. But she might have to. 

But he’s not making it easy with his clear manipulation tactics. Suddenly, he claims that she’s not ready to hear who she is and where she is, now that she’s listening. He’s probably just some crazy person. Best to just get rid of him, kick him out. Rhonda should be back soon. Then she can just tell Rhonda about all the weird stuff that just happened and then forget all about it. Amazingly, William is not the worst customer she’s ever had. 

William leaves, with a smarmy look on his face, and Rhonda gets back and everything should get back to normal. But then everything gets worse. William left. Lexie pushed him out the door herself. How is he back in his seat? What the fuck is going on? Is it ghosts? 

No, it’s not ghosts. But something is wrong with this place. Because as good and real as the tequila tasted, Lexie can’t leave this place. She physically can’t. Time jumps ahead and brings her back here without any time passing for her. Her life isn’t real. William was right. 

That doesn’t mean she really accepts not being Lexie, but there is something going on here. William claims that everyone in this Bar is not real, hell the whole bar isn’t even real. It’s a ‘Barn’. She can accepts that all the patrons are not real, but Rhonda? Rhonda *is* real. She gave her a home when she stumbled into this bar, and she’s been such a dear friend. She has to be real. But when Lexie closes her eyes, and says goodbye to Rhonda, she’s gone by the time her eyes open again. It hurts. 

The past few hours have been the weirdest in Lexie’s life, and everything gets weirder and weirder by the moment. The Bar(n) is full of black holes, and William claims it’s dying, like some living creature. William teaches her how to hear the door, how to hear people who are not there, and tells her to jump out into nothingness. She doesn’t really understand what is going on, but given everything she’s seen today, she just has to trust it. 

_”You keep saying I’m not who I think I am. When I get to the other side, who will I be?”_ she has to ask. 

_”Whoever you most want to be”,_ William replies, and it’s odd and cryptic, but that’s William. 

Lexie sees some figures by the other door, hears a man yell _“Audrey! Audrey!”_ but that’s not who she is, so it doesn’t matter. 

Lexie DeWitt jumps out of the Barn, and blacks out. 

*** 

Lexie wakes up to the gentle touch of a man she’s never seen before, and she’s been woken up by worst sights. He helps her up, keeps the crowd of armed people away from her, and looks at Lexie likes she’s the answer to all of his prayers. 

_"You made it."_

Lexie is not sure what to do about the man. He must know who she was before. He’s probably the person who shouted ‘Audrey’ into the nothingness, but that’s not who she is. She can’t help but like the way he looks at her. It’s not like the bar patrons, staring down at her cleavage or her ass, or her ex who never wanted to hear what she had to say. It’s not like William, using his knowledge in various ways to mess with her. 

After a while, the man gets tired of just watching her and tries to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear. The touch is still gentle, tentative but Lexie pulls away. She doesn’t know this guy. Lexie is well accustomed to dealing with handsy guys and refuses to feel bad about the pained look on this guy’s eyes. 

”OK, dude, let’s keep our hands to ourselves, OK?” she tells him, pulling back a little more. Her Arizona accent comes out exaggerated, like her mouth is doubling down on her identity: Lexie DeWitt, 31, Tucson Arizona. She's not from Haven, Maine and she is not the woman this man should be looking at like that.

"Who are you?" he asks, pain and hesitation in his voice.

"I'm Lexie DeWitt. Who are you?" 

Her name and question clearly cause this man pain. Lexie is not certain what to make of her own reactions. 

Finally the man can speak again, "I'm Nathan Wuornos, and you were supposed to kill me." 

Lexie can do nothing but stare at Nathan with horror.


	2. Lexie the New Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexie adjusts to Haven. (4x5 The New Girl AU part 1)  
> Cupioromantic!Lexie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recently decided to headcanon Lexie as cupioromantic (aro identity where you don't feel romantic attraction but desire a romantic relationship anyway) and I rewrote the first chapter to reflect that a bit more by adding some aro coding. I'm not sure she'll use the label at any point in the fic, and I'm not sure how that will affect the developments in this fic, bcus I don't know all the developments of this fic yet, but I like the idea, so keep that in mind. And like practically always, Nathan is demisexual and pan-nebularomantic (and autistic).
> 
> This is a pretty quick update before I write a Nathan pov up to this same point and then we'll see how this develops.
> 
> Chapter graphic: https://demisexualnathanvuornos.tumblr.com/post/185299349988/a-decent-guy-chapter-2-lexie-the-new-girl
> 
> Cupioromantic headcanon: https://demisexualnathanvuornos.tumblr.com/post/184697368208/aro-haven-savers-46-cupioromanticlexie-dewitt

"You were supposed to kill me." 

Who the fuck says something like that? What kind of place did she found up in?

There's a moment of calm silence before everything suddenly erupts. The guy, Nathan, gets to his feet, looking heartbroken and upset while asking for a clarification on her name, _"Your name is Lexie?"_

Lexie is not sure what to do so she just nods. A woman with black hair suddenly appears in Lexie's line of sight and she is holding a shotgun and aiming it at Nathan. Nathan doesn't seem to care. Lexie doesn't understand what is going on.

Then people start yelling and punching and *finally* Nathan is running but people are also running after him with guns. Lexie feels like she should follow but she is just very confused about what is going on. The field empties quickly, so she finds the only other person who is left. 

"What the hell is going on here?!?" Lexie asks the brunette woman. 

"It's rather complicated. My name is Jennifer. Follow me and I'll try to explain it to you." 

So Lexie follows Jennifer as they go in the same direction Nathan and the crowd (or it seemed more like a mob) ran off to. And even as Jennifer explains about the Troubles and what Nathan did, Lexie does hope to find Nathan before it's too late, because even though Lexie doesn't know who the hell this guy really is, she doesn't think he should die because of it. (And maybe she does feel something she can't explain. Maybe William was right. But she really doesn't have time to get into all that.) 

They find Nathan before anything too terrible happens and Lexie ends up using her newly found shooting skills to save Nathan. It's clear that most people here want Nathan dead, whether or not it accomplishes anything. After Lexie has made clear that is not going to happen, another man with long hair who introduces himself as Duke steps up and says he has a plan. A plan that apparently ends up with Lexie and Nathan in the backroom of some office.

The tension between them is awkward, and not just because of the distance between their chairs. Lexie has a slightly better idea of what is going on, but she still has a lot of gaps. Nathan is holding a piece of cloth to his bleeding forehead and a part of Lexie feels like she should go check him out but she's not sure that's wise in their complicated situation. But she can still be nice.

 _"How's your head?"_

Nathan turns to really look at her for the first time, _"I can't feel it."_

That's another weird thing to say but Lexie gathers that Nathan doesn't have many fucks left. She mumbles a _"Huh, a tough guy"_ to herself, and that brings an odd look into Nathan's eyes. 

After Nathan stops looking at her again she tries to bring the discussion back to their current predicament and how it will develop but Nathan can't hear what is going on in the other room any more than she can. So she makes a joke about hoping they won't have to end up working in this place. She was never much for office jobs. 

That piques Nathan's interest and he asks about her. She looks at him as she talks about the perils of bartending, even if that was just her latest odd job, and Nathan really has nice eyes. He's good listener too. 

"Are you a decent guy?" she asks and the question takes them both aback. She wasn't planning on asking anything like that and Nathan similarly wasn't expecting this. 

"What?" 

But she started this line of thougt and now she is curious. (William's words keep playing in her head, as does the look on Nathan's face when he woke her up) "I was just telling my imaginary friend Rhonda that I'm looking for one. Are you?" 

Maybe this is slightly cruel. Lexie is not the woman Nathan wants, she's not Audrey. But she wants to know what kind of man she stuck her neck out for.

"...I don't know. I try to be." Nathan turns away from her like she's the sun that is blinding his eyes. "I've been failing at it a lot though, lately." 

The atmosphere is heavy again and while they can't make out the words, the people in the other room are clearly having a heated discussion over them. 

"I'm not very decent either. And I wish I still had that imaginary tequila," Lexie says and Nathan looks at her again and she sees a hint of a smile. That's progress. 

Nathan's smile disappears though when he continues, "I'm sorry about your friend." 

The sincerity in his voice surprises Lexie. It's Lexie's turn to turn away from Nathan.

"Maybe you are a decent guy," she says quietly looking down at her hands and she doesn't know whether Nathan hears her or not. 

Because as the words have left her mouth, the door opens dramatically and the man she now knows is Vince tells them, _"You two, come with me."_

Nathan does as he's told, stands up and leaves the bloody cloth behind.

Lexie decides to follow because what else is she going to do? And she has to admit to herself that this town and whatever her role is in it intrigues her. So, she follows the men to a car and she can feel the looks people direct at her but she decides to ignore them. She's meant to be here, and she wants to find out why. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter I go into Nathan's perspective and after that... who knows.


	3. Broken Nathan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan's perspective on 4x1-4x4 (concentration on 4x1 and 4x4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Companion to Lexie's chapter 1. Next chapter is companion to Lexie chapter 2.
> 
> After that I'll have to figure out how Lexie's choices and the plot change from canon, so I'm not sure when I can update this but hopefully I will eventually.
> 
> Also the reason I've tagged both Lexie/Nathan and Naudrey is bcus ao3 doesn't actually recognize Lexie/Nathan as a separate ship (which I get bcus canon) but that's what I'm portraying so.

Nathan knows how much he fucked up because of one moment of weakness. He just wanted to save Audrey, save their son. He didn't want to doom Duke. He didn't know, didn't think, what killing Howard might mean. But he knows now. He stayed in Haven during the first few days, saw the destruction caused by the meteor shower, carried Jordan to the hospital, helped with the Troubles as much as he could. But it wasn't enough, and for whatever reason, Nathan didn't let the Guard kill him, and he took Dwight's help to get the fuck away from Haven. Why, he still doesn't quite know. 

Since he's left Haven, his life has been nothing more than running around Maine, trying to survive from one day to the next. Just because. He gets beat up by bored bikers for twenties that let him eat, have a motel room for the night and drink himself into emotional numbness so that he can have a few hours of sleep before waking up from a nightmare. It's not much of an existence, but Nathan doesn't really know what else to do. 

Today is one of those days when Nathan just wakes up in a nondescript motel in Maine near a biker bar. He's running out of money again, so if he wants to eat and drink today, he needs to hope that he can run into some bikers who are in the mood to hit people for money for no reason. 

He gets dressed, avoids the mirror, happy that his beard hides most of his face so he doesn't have to look at himself. It's been a while since he's managed to go to a laudromat, so another reason he needs money. The gray shirt he finds isn't too bloody which is the best he can hope for these days. 

He's in luck, and finds a lot of men who would rather hit a stranger than talk to a shrink. Gotta love toxic masculinity. (Shortly after Nathan's fathers died, he looked up Max's prison record. He got into a lot of fights. As he spits blood to the ground, he can't help thinking that he really is the son of at least one of his fathers) 

One more punch, and he needs a break. He's not sure why he moderates his hit count, but he would rather not wake up in his own puke too often. But someone clearly doesn't listen for his wishes, and he sees a twenty at the corner of his eye. He takes the money. He's not going to turn down any money, but he still needs his break. 

_”I would have suggested Jamaica."_

Nathan can't believe his ears. He knows that voice. He turns to look and sees one of the people he never expected to see again. Duke. He's not dead. His feelings about Duke have been complicated since the day they met when they were 5 years old, but he never wanted for him to die, never really wanted to be responsible for it. And because this is the first good thing to happen to him in months, Nathan goes with his gut feeling and hugs him. But first he checks that he's real, and solid. He can't push through him, so hugging him seems safe. When they pull apart, Nathan checks for his stability. He doesn't fall down under Nathan's possibly rough push and pull. He's real. Duke is real. That means Audrey might be too. 

_”Where is she?”_ Nathan looks around for her. 

_”Nathan...”_

They were in the Barn together, so she must be here too. But the only person he sees is a short brunette who waves her hand in their direction. 

_”Where is Audrey?”_

”I don't know,” is all Duke can say, and Nathan thinks it's breaking Duke too. 

Nathan doesn't understand what is going on. How can Audrey not be with Duke? Who is the woman who is walking up to them so nervously? 

”Jennifer, you mind giving us some time?” Duke asks the woman. 

”Sure. I could go get snacks or something.” 

”Good plan!” Duke sounds fake cheerful and Jennifer goes back to her car. 

”How can you not know where she is?” Nathan doesn't try to hide the panic in his voice. 

”Nathan, calm down. I was only in the Barn for like 10 seconds. It pushed me out to Boston this morning.” 

It's been too long since Nathan has had to worry about anything beyond keeping himself alive day by day. His brain doesn't know how to process this situation. 

Duke notices that and tries to get him to think of something else, ”I wasn't kidding about you smelling. How about you get cleaned up and we go from there? Right, buddy?” 

Duke's voice has a calm edge, like he's trying to keep Nathan from cracking, which is not an unfounded fear. Nathan just nods, and he doesn't even bristle at the 'buddy' comment. He start walking back to his motel room and Duke follows him. 

It doesn't take him long to pack everything into the small duvel bag he's been living from these past six months. Nathan wants to leave right after that, but Duke convinces him that he needs at least a shower. 

Duke is adamant that ”I'm not getting into a car with you smelling like that.” 

Nathan relents. He's not quite sure when was the last time he actually ended up taking a shower. The beard and smell help sell his desperation for money. For the first time in months, he really looks at himself in the mirror. He finds a razor and washes and shaves himself in the shower. 

Duke is taken aback when he comes out of the shower only in a towel, his scars and the condition of his body on full display. He picks up some clothes and goes back to get dressed. When he's done, he's ready to go. He just needs to decide what to do with the motorcycle he's been using the past few months. 

”I need to check out of here, and get rid of my bike, and then we can leave,” he tells Duke. 

Instead of saying anything, Duke just stares at Nathan exploringly. Nathan doesn't really wanna know what Duke has to say about his choices. Apparently Duke can sense that and just nods, ”Alright.” 

They walk back to the biker bar's parking lot where Nathan's bike still awaits and Nathan gets Duke up to speed over what happened to Haven and to him over the past six months. Duke is dismissive over his coping and survival mechanisms but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that Nathan needs to know if there is some other way for him to save Haven or to get Audrey back. Those answers lie with Jennifer and in Haven. 

After Nathan makes a weird first impression with Jennifer (but who doesn't like Slim Jims?), he keeps bombarding her with questions over what she heard in the Barn. Sometimes he notices Duke looking at him through the mirror, maybe surprised by how many words Nathan actually can use when he needs to. 

”I heard Audrey ask the man ' _Why do I have to kill the man I love to end all this?'_ I didn't get the answer or what lead to that conversation, but it seems like that is a possible way to end your 'Troubles'.” 

After those words, Nathan barely listens what else Jennifer says. Even though he doesn't feel, he's pretty sure he can still sense Duke's eyes on him. Because now Nathan has a plan. It's a bad plan, but it's the only one they have. 

They arrive in Haven during the same day and the welcome wagon is what you'd except. The Guard is there in full force, including Jordan who holds a shotgun at Nathan's face. He doesn't mind. He deserves all of this. The only reason he pleads for his life is because his death can have a meaning beyond Jordan getting her revenge. He can die for this town, pay back for all the harm he's caused it during the past six months. 

***

He thought he should just concentrate on trying to find Audrey, but eventually he realizes that Vince and Dwight are right. He needs the resources, but that is not why he picks up his badge again. He spent months looking at Audrey help all the Troubled people she could, giving every bit of herself for this town. How can he claim to honor her (love her) if he doesn't do the same? 

_”I learned from the best,”_ he tells Dwight after he manages to talk down Marion Cauldwell. And he did. And until he can get Audrey back, before Audrey can do what she should have down six months ago at Kick 'Em Jenny Neck (Nathan meant every syllable of _”I'm gonna die before I let you go.”_ ), there are still people who need help in Haven. And Nathan is going to do what he can before he can finally fix this mess he caused. 

*** 

Over the next weeks, as they try their best to find Audrey *somewhere*, Nathan has two moods: guilt and Audrey. His every waking moment is spend trying to find out where she could be, or taking the rightful hatred of everyone in this town, especially Jordan's. Any pain his body feels that he can't process, every outpouring of emotion he can use to relate to the grief and pain and loss and anger of Havenites, anything he can do to help, he will do it. Doing what Audrey used to do, it helps him feel connected to her. It's a painful connection, but it beats the emotional and physical numbness he's been living with for so long. It keeps him going. 

Until he can find Audrey and then it will all finally be over. He can finally fix it. 

*** 

Eventually he adds a third mood, frustration manifesting in anger. When it seems like this might finally end, when Jennifer hears the Barn again and Audrey is closer to being back home than she's been in months, the lack of progress and the search for doors leaves Nathan frustrated which leads to him yelling at Jennifer. The current case (disappearing kids) keeps him busy enough that he doesn't have to think about what has to happen once Audrey comes back. 

Finally, he talks down Braer Brock and saves the kids from the Douens, and Jennifer and Duke find the door. He says a vague goodbye to Dwight before finding the field with the invisible door. Of course. The Guard followed him there, but while Duke isn't happy about that, Nathan doesn't care. His life will end today, and hopefully he'll take the Troubles with him. Then everything will finally be over. 

Eventually, the door appears but Nathan can't open it. Of fucking course. But Jennifer can, and Nathan doesn't know how to describe what he sees beyond it. The only thing he can think of to do is yell _”Audrey! Audrey!”_ towards the nothingness, hoping she can hear him. 

Whether it did anything, Nathan doesn't know. Suddenly an explosion of some kind knocks everyone out. When Nathan wakes up, he can't see the door anymore. _”No,”_ he says out loud before he sees the body of a woman on the ground. 

He gets up from the ground and walks toward her. Her hair is longer and a different shade than Audrey's, and the mini skirt and tight top are not something Nathan ever saw Audrey wear. But even under the heavier makeup, Nathan knows it's her. 

_”Audrey? Hey,”_ he whispers, before gently touching her hair, her hand to wake her up. When she does, she looks confused. Nathan keeps people back from her and helps her to sit up. _You made it,”_ he says with wonder and relief in his voice. 

She's beautiful. Different, but still beautiful. Maybe Duke was right that she was given a different personality in the Barn. But whether that matters now, Nathan doesn't know or care. He can't stop looking at her, and doesn't want to stop himself from touching her. 

He wants to tuck her hair behind her ear, but before he can, she flinches away from him. It hurts, and Nathan doesn't bother hiding his reaction. 

”OK, dude, let’s keep our hands to ourselves, OK?” She sounds different, less Boston/Ohio, more somewhere west, and pulls back a little more. 

"Who are you?" Nathan's not sure he wants to hear the answer, but he knows he has to. 

"I'm Lexie DeWitt. Who are you?" 

For a moment Nathan doesn't know how to react. He supposes no one does. Their hope of ending the Troubles today evaporated with the syllables of Lexie's name. 

The only thing Nathan thinks of to say is, ”My name is Nathan Wuornos, and you were supposed to kill me.”

The woman, Lexie "not-Audrey" DeWitt, just watches Nathan in horror.


End file.
